Working Towards Healthy Aging

There is no fountain of youth nor can we stay young forever? Eventually we need to accept fact of getting old, since it’s a fact of life. 

The good news is, from now until our last day of living, we do have a degree of control over the way that we want to go through this process of aging.

The aging process is an ongoing process of our lives. Stopping the clock is impossible so we all have to stay healthy and take care of ourselves as long as possible. 
Start working now to take care of yourself as you age. Even though healthy lifestyle does not reverse the aging process, it helps to slow down the process and delay the onset of age related disease. 

Exercise Regularly

Lack of exercise and activities can prevent you from healthy living and aging. 

Body metabolism slow down as we age, hence older people are easier to gain weight. And the worst part of it is obesity. It not only accelerates aging but can lead to various chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and so on. Shortfall of physical activity and exercise causes the agility and flexibility of our body parts to decline and thus senior are more prone to falls and loss of balance.

When you are short of physical activity, you may feel lethargic and low energy level despite resting a lot or even napping a lot in the day. 

Adequate Sleep

It is quite common for senior to sleep lesser at night because the quality of their sleep tend to deteriorate as they spend shorter time in deeper sleeping mode. Bodies change as aging take place hence seniors have to make changes to accommodate their lives. A short nap of not more than 25 minutes can be considered for senior not having enough sleep. Besides this, regular exercise, whether walking, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, swimming, jogging, etc, help us to sleep better at night.

A good night sleep boosts our energy and allows better control of our emotion. Senior can also make better decisions with a clear mind. Adequate sleep at night makes us feel less stress and boost our immune system to keep us healthy.  Researchers have found that lack of sleep reduces the growth hormones in our bodies since it reduces muscles but develops fat, thus causing weight gain. An exhausted person may find him too weak and repressed from enjoying daily activities. A good night sleep builds up energy that is required for an active lifestyle. 

Healthy Diet

Healthy diet is important for everyone even more so for a senior. A healthy diet may not be a total remedy to diseases but illness like arthritis and diabetes can be greatly improved by nutritious foods.

Last but not least, exercise, adequate sleep encompass with healthy diet are the 3 basic pillars of healthy aging lifestyle. Efforts made in following a healthy lifestyle help senior to enjoy their golden year more.

At helpaginggracefully.com, we have for some newly added products at our (Wellness Store) to enhance healthy living of our senior. We also have products that help you or your seniors to embark onto an exercise routine at the comfort of their home. Simple fitness equipments, easy to follow DVD guide to stretching exercise, Yoga, ‘Qi Gong’, ‘Tai Chi’ for senior and etc. 

Not just Looking Young but Feel Young too

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Generally speaking, considered yourself a baby boomer if you are born between the year 1946 to 1964. What are the concerns of baby boomers? Other than aging happily, looking young and feeling young are also the items on their list.

Baby boomers may not have a huge corner on the market for staying youthful but they certainly have set a high standard for creating a wide range of products and services to attend to anti-aging need.  The quest for delay aging in baby boomers has resulted in an explosion of profits in the cosmetic and plastic surgery markets.  It’s easy to criticize the desire of baby boomers to want to picture themselves as youthful as possible.  But it goes a lot deeper than that.

It doesn’t take a lot of research or analysis to see that baby boomers grounded their identities in the youth movement of the 1960s and 1970s.  There was basically no youth movement before the boomer generation.  But in the 1960s, when youth culture virtually took over American and the world, everything changed for baby boomers and this change was never reversed. The desire to put age on hold and worship everything about being young had infiltrated the culture even as the boomer generation moved into middle age and now is on the verge of creating the largest retirement generation ever.  

The worship of youth in baby boomers is not just about looking sexy and dreading the physical changes of growing older. The baby boomer’s love about the concept of youth has to do with the idealism and the commitment to causes that is common in young people.  The desire to change the world and to be a force to make mankind better was part of what made the new youth culture in the 1960s so unique.  And because those values are commendable, we really can’t completely condemn the desire by baby boomers to stay youthful.

So the quest to stay young often manifests itself in cosmetic attempts to look young.  We can almost understand the appeal.  We all like to look good.  But the real source of youth is not just a tight butt and abs and smooth, wrinkle free skin. The phrase “you are as young as you feel” is often used by baby boomers as an excuse to behave younger than they are. But it can also reflect that an inner youthfulness can be fueled by a youthful outlook on life. All these accompanied with health eating and exercise will allow boomers to live well into their senior years.

It is when baby boomers combine those elements of “inner youthfulness’ with their cosmetic efforts to stay young that they really do retain much of their youth beyond what their age would report. Have you ever met an elderly man or woman who is so full of life and fun that they leave you feeling older than they are.  The sparkle in the eye, the curiosity about everything life has to offer and that optimism and idealism that you commonly associate with teenagers is truly inspiring when it is being expressed by a senior citizen.

This is the real youth movement that the baby boomer generation is aspiring. It is more than just dying the hair or using Botox and wrinkle creams. It is about being strong role models to the youth coming up. They don’t give up on their dreams, idealism and excitement in living. They will thrive no matter what age they are. And if that is the legacy of the baby boomer generation, it’s a fine value to leave behind for future generations to enjoy.

Also read this ebook : Ulitimate Baby Boomer Guide to find out what are the minor changes that our boomers should make in order to improve our personal well-being and lead them to healthy life, prosperity and longevity. 

This ebook can be downloaded for free at our Solution to Age Gracefully website.

Aging Parents and Role Reversal

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There is no way to reverse time. From the moment you step into the society to pursue a career. You may realise that your parents are no longer young. Once you settle down and have you own family, you take over the role of parenting of your own children. Before you know it, children are no longer the only parenting role you have, care and decision-making for your own parents also fall under you. It is not easy for anyone to pick up the role of care giving of aging parents or elderly relatives. Similarly, role reversal for aging parents is painful experience too. It might not anything you are prepared for or expected would happen to you. If you need a dose of growing up, elder care will certainly make it happen whether you're ready or not!

Now that your role has reversed, you have to make decisions for yourself and your aging parent. What will be best for them without altering your life too drastically. How do you keep up to the pace and ultimately please everyone around you?  You are not alone in life, you have a family, significant other, a career to think about. You want to balance everything to keep everyone happy and life as normal as possible. Think again! Those once a week visits or daily phone calls aren’t enough anymore. Your parent needs care, the real kind. Such cares involve making sure they eat and that they take their medications, accompany them for quarterly check-up, make sure they are financially sound and that they don’t become a victim of fraud so on. 

How do you deal with this situation without alienating every member of your family? If you have siblings, there should be a discussion before any decision is made. Normally, when you are the one in charge of caring for your aging parent, you may need to make a bold suggestion to manage the wealth of your parent as well. Caring for aging parent can be costly and long term responsibility. Especially, when your aging parents need in-home care service, or even live in assisted living home. If your parents have accumulated some wealth over the year or have monthly income from pension, retirement account or insurance, you may need to ask to utilise this amount to settle some of the bill for the care giving. If you aging parents are not well to be financially, you may need you sibling to chip up an amount monthly. Whatever you intend to do, make sure that all these bills have proper records to ensure transparency and to prevent disputes with siblings later on.

Start with their doctor. Have an appointment to discuss the faltering health of your beloved parents. You can also check with the doctor where their health care is a concern. A session with the doctor, you may be able to determine the types of help and living style your parent current status require. Keep asking until you have the best situation for all concerned.  

Please bear in mind that sending aging parents to an assisted living home is not the only solution. It may be as simple as an aide visiting once or twice a day to help with showering, dressing, meals and medication.  Their health may need more than that and the visiting nurse or health care personal may be required. The keyword for elder care at home is “safety”. If safety at home does not meet level required, do some home modifications until you are satisfy that elder home are safe for their current situation. Home modifications don’t have to be a total overhaul which will be costly unless your budget allow for it. Home modification can be done stage by stage. Consider which are the more pressing concerns now and tackle them first. The level of safety can to be accessed from time to time to keep up to the need of your aging parent as time goes by. 

It may take you some time to uncover everything available to help with this elder care process but trust me, it will worth it for the many years of elder care it might stretch out to be. It is best to discuss with your parents earlier on all their health and medical concerns, financial and personal situations before that day arrives.

When parents are old the best thing you can give them is you. Spend quality time instead of stress time. Have them over for a day and dinner instead of needing to pawn them off to someone else totally. You are not in this alone. The resentment builds if you do this alone and there are many really good in-home care facilities to take some of that burden off your shoulders.

Visit my website at www.helpaginggracefully.com to discover some of the useful products that can assist you with elder care.

Age Proof Living for the Wellness of Love Ones

The elderly need a lot of help around the house, but it is not often that each and every member of the family will be around to help. A typical household may not have a hired nurse or maid, and so it becomes the duty of the children or grandchildren to assist their aged parents or grandparents. Assistance may need for simple walking, to getting a hard to reach item. The wisdom comes in the form of self-assistance; that is, in the ability for the elderly to help themselves. This can easily be made possible with proper planning and slight adjustment to your daily routine.

Eliminate obstacles or de-clutter around the house. What may seem like a piece of cake to an agile twenty-year-old may be a challenge for a seventy-year-old. These daily obstacles pose threats ranging from mild to critical. For example, glassware in the kitchen and loose mat lying on the floor can be a very serious threat. Problems like that can be remedied by practical thinking: eliminate the obstacle, not the object. Retro-fitting the house to meet the needs of the elderly, while at the same time preserving the homeowner's comfort of living can be a much simpler task than perceived.

Solutions can be entirely within the realm of practicality, while others involve expenses. The most obvious and less costly solution is to have a single storey household. At least, the aging parents should be moved to the ground level for easy accessibility. Doing so will evade the most frightening scenario of falling down the stairs. If possible, ensure that all necessities remain available and accessible on the ground level, especially a bathroom. 

Bathroom is a one of the hazardous venue of household injuries. Wet floor are most slippery on smooth flooring such as tiles and marbles. Slip proof your floor with anti-slip coating or tapes, provide a non-slip bath mat inside the bathtub and showers. Adding grab bars at showers, bathtub and toilet area help to provide additional support for elderly. Most of these items are inexpensive and easy to install and they impede the risk of fall. Read article on Planning for Aging in Place.

Assisting elderly to get on with life can be as easily as installing an amplified house phone and portable door chime for those with hearing problem.

Clarity XLC3.4 Amplified Cordless Phone

 Honeywell Premium Portable Wireless Door Chime and Push Button

Equip your television and radio with a wireless headset for parents with declined hearing ability. This way, the volume can be turned up to suit their needs without disrupting the rest of the household. Another measure would be to enable subtitles and captions for movies and television. A magnified nail clipper for nail cutting and visual aide magnifier for reading is convenient for those with depreciated vision. Threading a needle is a challenge for elderly with declining vision.  A needle threader is suitable for used.

Easy No-Mess Magnified Nail Clipper with Nail Catcher

Carson ezRead Visual Aide Magnifier (DR-200)

SINGER 3 Count Needle Threaders

Elderly with arthritis in their hand may have difficulty turning the door knob. Put on easy grid rubber cover over door knob or change door knob to lever handle. Use a key turner in order to establish a firmer grip on key to open a door painlessly. An automatic can opener to help them to do perform difficult task of opening a can. Problem with buttoning shirt, sure grid button hook can help you to button effortlessly.

Rubber Door Knob Covers by EasyComforts

Key Turner Hole-In-One

Good Grips / Sure Grips Button Hook 

A household gadget to consider is audio reminder, which will remind an elderly person of certain tasks via pre-recorded messages. Pill dispenser also come in handy to remind elderly person to take medicine on time.

Medcenter 73202 Alarm Clock Pill Reminder Personal Recording

MedCenter (70265) 31 Day Pill Organizer with Reminder System

There are quite a number of household gadgets that can aid in everyday life just as well as practical decisions of aging in place. With these tips in mind, use your home to their advantage, all without necessitating too much change.

Other than all this household gadgets the security and safety of our aging parent is our greater concern. More than once, elderly in our neighbourhood had became the victims of fire, robbery, theft and fraud. Hence, keeping our home safe also one of the aspect that we must look into. Read the article on Safety and Security at Home.

      Too often accidents happen at the smallest negligent. Elderly may be at home alone for hours. Hence, the best option would be to organize a lifestyle alongside your aged parents or grandparents, a lifestyle that suits them. This makes it easier for everyone involved, as self-assistance is the most ideal way to retain their freedom and their dignity.

Which Mobility Scooter is suitable for you?

As your parents get older, their mobility decline. They may not be able to walk long distance. They may need some form of helps in walking. The more common ones are walkers and canes. How about a mobility scooter that can allow them to travel longer distance and continue with their daily activities of shopping for groceries at market or going to relative’s house for a mah-jong session?

     

There are many types and models of personal mobility scooters to choose from. They can be categorized as follows:

1) Folding/Easily Transported Scooters  

A mobility scooter that can allow you to bring on a trip will be good. That’s when this type of scooter comes into play. This type of scooter is small, lightweight and foldable which can fit into truck of most cars.

2) Easily disassembled Scooters

Usually this type of scooter can be disassembled into 3 to 5 piece of lightweight parts – making the scooter easily transportable. It is able to fit into the trunk of most cars.

3) Three-Wheeled Scooters  

As the name implies, this scooter has 3 wheels instead of 4. It usually can carry a lighter weight user. It offers comfort, durability, can get you where you want to go indoors and outdoors. It can navigate tight corner due to small turning radius.

4) Four-Wheeled Scooters 

If you plan on mostly using your scooter outdoors and on uneven ground, then a four-wheeled personal mobility scooter is probably right for you. Obviously because this type of scooter has four wheels instead of three, it’s much more stable. With bigger tires than three wheel scooter, it’s able to go as fast as 10 miles per hour. It can also handle curbs and bumps in outdoor situation. However, this type of scooter will have difficulty navigating in small space.

5) Heavy Duty Electrified Personal Mobility Scooters: 

This type of scooter can come with three or four wheels and can support a maximum weight capacity of 500 pounds.

6) Other additional features of mobility scooter that you may want to look out for:

• Adjustable seat height

• Flip back, Adjustable arm width and angle

• Anti-tip wheel for greater safety

• Adjustable tiller

• Foldable 180 degree swivel seat   

• Able to charge battery on board or off board

• Mounted with basket

The type of personal mobility scooter you will choose depend upon several factors:

• Weight of the user

• Indoor or outdoor usage 

• Preferable speed 

• Amount of usage

Our website helpaginggracefully.com has a wide range of mobility scooters for your selection. 

Accessibility and Mobility

"Photo courtesy of StockFreeImages.com"

Senior may be less mobile as they get older. Hence, additional support like canes, walkers and other mobility aids may be needed.

In cases where the onset of illness causes a senior to be bounded to wheelchair or mobility scooter, accessibility at home become foremost concern in order to age in place. Hence, the home for senior should be accessible. Steps at entrance doorway should be overcome with ramp instead. Portable ramp can be used if building a physical ramp is not possible. 

24" Portable Mobility Wheelchair & Utility Ramp 600 lb. Capacity Maximum 4" Rise

Curbs at door of bathroom are definitely out as these are obstructions to wheelchair. How about installing a threshold ramp which prevent the water from flowing to dry area and yet accessible by wheelchair? 

ADA Wheelchair Accessible Shower Threshold - 42-in long

Mobility is the criteria for aging in place. Only with mobility, senior can enjoy the freedom and independence of aging in place. The ability to go outdoor, be it just going around the neighbourhood or visiting a friend, enhanced active aging. Active aging is also a way to prevent isolation which normally occurs to senior who are confined to home due to restricted mobility.

Wildcat 450 Heavy Duty Folding Power Wheelchair

Bobcat 4 Wheel Compact Scooter

Electric wheelchairs are powered equipment that allow frail senior with debilitating illness to regain some independent. Mobility scooters which offer more control and cheaper are popular among senior with mild physical disability or those who have problem standing or walking for too long. 

Standers Millennial Crutch

Duro-Med Adjustable Folding Fancy Cane

Ez2care Lightweight Deluxe Padded Seat Rollator with Storage Box, Burgundy

Canes, clutches and walkers are also mobility aids commonly used by senior whose need some assistance in walking.

With the implementation barrier free accessibility and universal design to built environment in Singapore, we look forward to having barrier free access to all housing estate, shopping mall, poly clinics, parks, MRT stations and public resort. These will not only benefit the elderly but also other age group.

A Caregiver's Guide To Coping With Stress

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The journey of a care giver is definitely not easy especially when the responsibility is suddenly placed on you. Caring for elderly, be it your own parent or any relative, can be extremely stressful when your are tied up with your own family commitment and work. The job of care giving can cause you to burn out and depressed. Sometimes, you may not be appreciated for all the things you have done especially when your elderly don't even recognize you. That really hurt right.

On the other hand, it can be a rewarding and satisfying experience. Knowing that you trying your best to care for the person who had been taking care of you in the earlier part of their life can be fulfilling.

For any of you who are experiencing the stress of care giving for elderly, I hope this free E-book will be of help to you. You can download it at my website.

Safety and Security at Home

As senior age, all their senses may not be as sensitive as before and their memories will deteriorate. 

a) Fire risk
Fire causes loss of lives and homes to many. Just as it is important to have to get an extinguisher for your household. Installing smoke and carbon monoxide detector in the kitchen or even other part of the house can be a sensible decision. When a senior has a declining memory and still doing the cooking for the family. There is high tendency of fire in the kitchen if the senior forgotten to turn off the stove or didn't notice the burning smell. This is not only applicable to senior only. As long as we cook at home. There is a possibility that it might happens. Other fire incidents include burning of praying altar, un-extinguished cigarette butts, electrical fire and so on. Ensuring the safety of your family members is the first priority in any home. 

Carbon Monoxide and Smoke Detector with Talking Alarm

Installing video intercom system for senior help them to identify clearly who is the visitor before opening the door. With failing vision, identifying visitor through the peep hole of the door is difficult. The video intercom help to prevent senior from opening door to complete stranger who may turn out to be robber. 

Intercom System with LCD Monitor and Night Vision Security Camera

Door bell that light up upon depressing of the button, inform the senior with hearing problem of visitor. Similarly, buy your senior a house phone equipped with light signal to inform senior of incoming calls. 

Premium Portable Wireless Door Chime and Push Button

Memory loss is one of the byproduct of aging. Make sure they always have phone numbers of family members with them. Get them a mobile phone with elder safety feature. They can hit the emergency button when there is need. 

Once you notice that your senior is forgetting things, maybe it will be good to equip them with GPS tracking device so that they can be located in case they lose their way.

  watch gps locator for Elderly/child

 Senior Mobile Phone

 Wandering Prevention and Emergency Alert Watch

Planning for aging in place

The major focus on aging in place is the home where the senior resides. Considerations have to be taken to ensure that the home that they resides in cater to their needs as they age. 

Home modification is one of the basic needs for aging in place. Modifications can be major or minor depending on the elder's needs and budget. One can seek for professional help to propose a serial of remodel and do a total overhaul of your home to fit the need of aging in place and yet look in to the aesthetic requirements of the owner. Alternatively, one can also make use of products available in our website to recreate an elder friendly home.

In general, a home for aging in place must have 3 of the following elder friendly features in placed: 

1.     Falls prevention

2.     Security and Safety concern

3.     Accessibility and mobility needs

Fall Prevention
Seniors are more prone to fall. As their body muscles deteriorate, seniors are more likely to lose their balance. Fall is one of the highest causes of injuries at home. 

Prevention is always better than remedy, fall proof your senior home is the first criteria to achieve quality live while aging in place.

Here are some tips in fall prevention :

a)     House-keeping
If the senior’s home or your home (if you are staying with your parents) is cluttered with old newspapers and unused stuffs and toys all over the place, it time for major house-keeping. You will notice while you de-clutter the house, there are things that your elderly or you don't even remember they existed laying at one corner of the store or along the corridor in the house. 

Take this opportunity to get rid of things which are no longer in used like textbooks and files from your school day, toys collections during your childhood, old clothes, unused toaster, radio given by whoever and whatsoever. Get the permission of your parents if needed, throw or give them away. You can also conduct a junk sale. You may even earn some cash for the modification works. 

The purpose of this exercise is to clear out unnecessary stuffs causing obstruction and posing risk to falls. 

b)      Store within reach

Foot Stool with Support

When storing items that are frequently used, make sure there are within reach of your senior so that they don't have to over stretch themselves. If possible don't store thing too high up. A foot stool with support come in handy in reaching higher cabinet in the house.

c)      Anti-slip

Anti Skid Epoxy

Anti-Slip Stickers on Shower Tray

Anti Slip Tape

Anti Slip Non Skid Safety Bath Mat

Marble, granite and terrazzo finishes are highly slippery when wet. Applying anti-slip coating and anti-slip adhesive does help to a certain degrees. However, regular maintenance to ensure that the floors are dry and clean will help to retain the anti-slip properties of these products.

Areas like bathtub, toilet and shower which are wet most of the time need special attention. Anti-slip mat can be used at the bath tub or anti-slip coating on the floor to prevent fall from slippery.

Loose carpet, floor mat and rug should be replaced with one that can strongly adhere to the floor. These items are culprits to trip and falls if placed unsecured to the floor.

d)            Support

Grab bars

Security (floor to ceiling) Poles

Shower Chair

Elevated Toilet Seat with Support

     Grab bars and security poles must be provided in the shower and bathtub area to provide support to the frail. Having a shower chair or bench in the shower is a added fall prevention feature.

For senior who have hip or replacement or knee problem getting seated to a low sofa and getting up can be a difficult task. A security poles, seat lift, elevated toilet seat with support can ease the situation.

e)      One level household

Stair Lift

    Elderly's household should be kept to one floor where possible. This is to avoid senior having to climb staircase to get to the bedroom or bathroom hence help to reduce the risk of fall. If really this is unavoidable, a stair lift can be considered. It does assist senior with knee or hip problem to get up to the next level at ease.

     f)       Sufficient lighting 

     Sufficient lighting in senior home is a must. These can help to prevent fall especially for senior with reduced vision.